Can You Hear Me? -Adopted by Patrick Stump
by MadSalty017
Summary: When Eve was 9, she was diagnosed as Hard of Hearing. Not quite deaf, not quite able to hear. Her chances of being adopted plummeted. She was a quiet girl already, but you can't blame her. She thought the world was supposed to be quiet. Now, at age 17, Eve is about to get kicked out of the system. Is someone going to come save her? Or will she have to be stuck on her own?
1. It's Hard To Say "I Do" When I Don't

Typically the first word that crosses my mind in the morning is _shit_. Certainly not the best word to be crossing one's mind so early in the morning, but it's also not the worst.

But, luckily for my sake and the kids', I can't say that out loud. Well, I could, but I don't. I'm hard of hearing. So I can't exactly hear myself talking, so it sounds weird. I typically stick to ASL, which is a language only three people here know; me, my friend Fran and Mr. Van. They are typically my translators. Of course, there are some unexpected benefits of having to use ASL. One, I don't have to go to public school, I just use online school (which is where I learned ASL in the first place). For another, I don't need many friends. Those who I do have need to be willing to learn ASL, or get used to me writing for them on a white board.

Some of the downfalls were some bullying from the other kids here. I only had about a month to get out of here, so I handled it well. I also couldn't listen to music unless I was blasting it, so I couldn't listen to anything with curse words. It was just easier for me to listen to Christian artists like for KING COUNTRY and Skillet (both of which changed my views on religion, as I am a Christian as well), but I could also listen to a band I found called Twenty One Pilots. I had a few songs from Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, but only the songs that were clean and didn't imply anything. I could read lyrics all day though, so that's what I based my likes of artists on.

Most of my day was spent either doing school work, reading, or helping clean the house. I enjoyed all three, but by the end of the day I was always exhausted. But today was a different story.

I woke up, like I said earlier, and the first word to come to my mind was _shit._ Today would be the second to last adoption day I would be a part of, and it scared me so much.

We had them every other Friday. Between the one 4 days after Christmas and the one on the 12th of January I would turn 18 and be kicked out. In fact, I turn 18 at exactly midnight on New Year's day. Makes it easy for me to remember how old I am or what year it is.

Before getting ready for my day, I sent a quick prayer up to God that I would be adopted today by someone, preferably a nice person. Didn't matter who they were as long as they were nice. Then I began to get dressed. I just threw on a pair of nice pants and a Skillet T-Shirt. My motto for adoption day is "Show them who you are so they aren't surprised when you get home." I would think it works.

I jumped down the short set of stairs, walking into the kitchen.

" _Good morning, Eve,_ " Mr. Van signed, quickly handing me a bowl of cereal.

I grabbed it, signing a quick reply as I began to eat. The actual adoption process would start around 8. It was 7:45 and the cafeteria was full of other children. I sat down at my usual table, holding some of the other teenagers.

" _Morning guys!_ " I signed before

" _Morning Eve. You think someone is going to adopt you today?_ " My friend Fran asked. She was 16, but someone was already starting the process of adopting her.

" _I've prayed for it every morning and every night. It's bound to happen eventually,_ " I stated boldly. The others nodded, going back to their conversations as I finished eating.

An hour later, I was surprised to find that my age group (literally just me) was called. I guess the family was different than most. Typically I would be called in around 3 pm. It was 9 am.

Mr. Van came up to me, " _This couple tours a lot, mostly because of the man's job in a band. I think you will like them_ ," We walked into the room together, and despite almost having a fangirl attack, I sat down calmly in front of Patrick and Elisa Stump.

Mr. Van explained the situation to them and they nodded. Usually the couple would immediately reject me, but Patrick and Elisa just went along with it.

" _Tell us a bit about yourself_ ," Mr. Van translated.

" _Well, I'm Hard of Hearing, but I don't let that stop me if I can help it. I'm learning how to read lips, so you don't have to worry too much about being able to communicate with me. I'm a Christian, but not one of those 'You're going to burn in Hell if you sin' Christians. I love to listen to music, but I have to blast it in order to hear it, so I can currently only listen to songs that are clean and don't imply anything, so I listen to a lot of Christian music. Although I do listen to some of your songs, along with Twenty One Pilots and Panic! at the Disco. I love to read and write too._ " I sat and tapped my foot fearfully as they discussed. They turned back to me, smiling.

Reading their lips, which I was still learning, they said, "We want to adopt you."

My heart leapt out of my chest and I grinned. I wasn't sure of what else to do, I had never been in this position. They stood, and I stood to hug them as well.

Mr. Van began to speak to them, translating for me at the same time. "Because she only has a few weeks left in the system, we have the option to have you guys sign her paperwork today and she can go home with you today, if you would like."

Again, to my surprise, Patrick and Elisa nodded. I grinned, and Mr. Van sent me off to pack my stuff.

Finally free!


	2. Golden

**A/N**

 **I know that Patrick has had a second child with Elisa. I saw somewhere that their second child's name is Antero, so I'm hoping that's correct. I'm honestly glad it took me an hour to find that, Patrick is doing an insanely good job on keeping his family private. Kudos to him!**

I got to my room and just started throwing random stuff in my suitcase. I had a lot, but not too much. I could pack everything in a suitcase and two book bags, both of which were about to burst. I saw Fran come in, and I ran up and hugged her.

" _I'm leaving today!_ " I signed quickly, picking my pillow and blanket up.

" _Let me help you get those downstairs then_ ," Fran picked up one of the book bags and my suitcase. I picked up the other book bag and led her downstairs, where Patrick and Elisa were standing and waiting for me to get there. Patrick took my suitcase and book bag from Fran, who in turn hugged me. " _Merry Christmas!_ "

I turned and hugged Mr. Van as well, " _I told Patrick and Elisa the website you used to learn ASL, so that they could learn too._ " I nodded and followed my new parents out the door. We reached the car, a small 5-seater Volks-Wagen, and Patrick helped me set my bags into the trunk. We all got in, and from where I sat I could see Elisa signing her and Patrick up for the ASL website. I smiled, as Patrick looked at me in the rear view mirror.

"You can read lips right?" He asked, his brows furrowed and his eyes concerned. I nodded, and he relaxed in his seat, "Do you have anywhere you want to eat?"

 _I had never really "eaten out" before._

I shrugged and pulled my phone out, typing the message in my notes and showing it to him. He nodded, "Let's go to... Texas Roadhouse?" He looked to Elisa and said something I didn't bother translating. Elisa nodded, and Patrick looked back into the rear view mirror. "It has stuff like steak, burgers, and chicken. Lots of chicken," He smiled at me, then resumed driving.

 _Was this what it was going to be like every night?_

I immediately imagined myself getting overweight from all the eating out and made a mental note to ask Patrick of I can get a gym membership.

I felt a tap on my knee and I looked up at Elisa, "We bought some basic things for your room the other day, like a bed, dresser and desk, but we can go to the store tomorrow and buy some other things for in there." I nodded, and on habit I signed _thank you._ To my surprise, Elisa replied with "You're welcome, sweety. I know a little bit of sign language from teaching Declan and Antero."

I forgot they already had a kid. I nodded, wondering where he was.

"We left Declan and Anetro at Pete's place, we have to go pick them up really quick and then we'll all go out for dinner," Patrick explained, pulling into a neighborhood. I nodded, hoping the babies would like me. We pulled up to a fairly large house and I gulped. I had no idea why I was so nervous. They were babies. Maybe because it was because I was also going to meet Pete Wentz and Megan Camper? Patrick and Elisa got out, and motioned for me to get out and follow them to the door. I was silent, per usual, as Patrick knocked on the door.

Pete opened it, holding a kid that looked exactly like him in his arms, "Hey Patrick! You must be Eve," Pete seemed calm. That helped me relax a little bit. "Come in guys, Declan and Antero-" I didn't see what else he said because he turned around. We all walked into the house and immediately I saw three other kids running around. Three boys. I could pick Declan and Antero out immediately, they looked exactly like Patrick and Elisa, respectively. Once the duo saw their- our- parents, they ran up to us immediately. I could actually hear their shouts of joy.

 _Jesus, how loud are they?_

I say that because I can only hear sounds that are about 90 decibels, just between the sound of a chainsaw and a a bass drum. I can hear concerts, which is why I love music so much. Their screams must have been a little over that 90 mark. Clinically I was diagnosed with severe hearing loss. Like I said, I don't really mind.

"You look surprised Eve," Elisa pointed out.

I took my phone out, _I could hear them screaming. How loud are they?_ I showed the phone to the adults and they laughed.

"They were pretty loud." Pete said, "Are you just hard of hearing?"

 _Yes, I can only hear sounds that are above 90 decibels. So, I can blast music, which is probably the only reason why I knew who you guys were._ I smiled sheepishly as Pete read. I could see him laugh.

"You blasted our music through the orphanage?" Pete asked, putting shoes on his kids.

I nodded, _Only the stuff that had no curse words or didn't obviously imply anything. I could read lyrics though, so I read over Dance, Dance a lot but I could blast Favorite Record._

Patrick read my reply to Pete and he nodded, "Oh yeah, Megan will meet us at the restaurant." I found myself nodding, walking with everyone else out the door. Patrick helped put Declan and Antero into their car seats, allowing me to crawl in. I could see Patrick gently explain to Declan that I couldn't hear him, but I could understand. He explained who I was to them as well, and they both started bouncing excitedly.

"Hi Eve!" Declan shouted. I couldn't hear him, but I could see his enthusiasm. I grinned and waved. "My name is Declan! I'm this many!" He held up three fingers and I grinned, high fiving him. I turned to sit correctly in my seat, still looking at Declan as he babbled on about himself. Antero wiggled in his seat.

Honestly, I couldn't wait to be more of a part of this family.


	3. Start Today

**A/N**

 **There is a website below that I mention where you can learn ASL in 8 days if you wanted. It does cost some money (I got it on Groupon) but you can message me/comment if you want the website link.**

We arrived at the restaurant and I immediately felt under dressed. I was just in sweat pants for crying out loud! Pete noticed my discomfort as we were waiting to be seated and nudged me, "I've felt substantially less anxiety since committing to wearing sweatpants everywhere I go," I looks down to see that he was, in fact, wearing sweat pants. "I might tweet that," He mused. I noticed a familiar woman walk in and searched around for a second before spotting us and walking over. Pete grinned and kissed her, making Bronx and Saint wrinkle their faces. I chuckled softly.

"You must be Eve," Meagan said, hugging me. "It's nice to meet you."

 _You too_ , I wrote on my phone.

A waitress called us to our booth, and I took a seat across from Patrick. Bronx was next to me, and Pete next to him. Next to Pete was Meagan, then Saint. Antero was next to him, Elisa next to him, and Patrick next to her. Declan was at the end of the table, between Patrick and I.

"Just point at what you want Eve, I'll tell the waitress for you," Patrick said, smiling. I nodded, searching the menu. I decided on what I wanted while Patrick was helping Declan decide. Declan pointed to chicken nuggets and fries.

I noticed that he was refusing to talk. I tilted my head at him. Declan noticed and smiled, talking for a split second, "I wanna be like you!" He shut his mouth again and I blushed. The rest of the adults laughed quietly as Patrick explained my situation to the boy. "I know! I want her to know she isn't alone!" He explained. My eyes widened, and my heart swelled. Patrick looked uncertainly at me, but seeing my happy expression he sighed, I'm assuming in relief.

The waitress came back and I pointed what I wanted to Patrick. Declan did the same and we smiled at each other. After a long, complicated list of food (mostly from Pete) the waitress went to put our order in.

"How long does it take to learn ASL?" Patrick asked.

 _I found a course that only has 8 modules, so if you did those one day at a time then just over a week._ I typed on my phone. He nodded.

"Was that the website that Mr. Van recommended?" Patrick asked, coloring with Declan on his menu.

I nodded, watching quietly. Declan handed me a crayon and I started to play tic-tac-toe with him.

~~~~~~~~

Soon, we were home. Declan took the job of leading me to my room, while Patrick and I followed behind with my luggage. He smiled at me, opening my door, "Ta-da!"

My jaw dropped as I looked around. It was a big room, bigger than the one I had at the orphanage. There was a bed in one corner, with a desk on one wall and a dresser and two doors on the other wall. I assumed that one led to a closet and the other led to a bathroom. The fourth wall had a bookshelf (that was empty save a couple books) and a bean bag, but other than that it was empty. Patrick caught my attention, "The rest of that wall is for you to put stuff you like to do, like maybe a keyboard if you like that." He smiled at me and I signed _thank you_ to him. He nodded and hugged me, "You can unpack if you want, just don't stay up too late." He pointed to the alarm clock, which read _10:53_. I nodded and Patrick took Declan to put him in bed.

I began to unpack, slowly filling the room with my stuff. By midnight, the room looked like I had been living there for years. I crawled into bed, under the plain white blanket, and fell asleep.

The next morning I awoke to the smell of bacon. I shot up, my mouth watering, and hopped out of bed. I slowly made my way downstairs, coming into the kitchen to see Elisa cooking with a shield in front of her. I laughed quietly, and she turned to look at me.

"Morning honey, I'm making breakfast for everyone. Patrick is probably going to wake up later, he was up until about 3 doing something," Elisa greeted. My mouth dropped as I sat at the island.

 _Do you know what he was doing?_ I typed.

"No clue," Elisa said after looking. I nodded as Declan and Antero walked in, hand in hand. I smiled at them as Elisa picked Antero up and put him in his high chair. He waved to me and I waved back.

Declan noticed me and started to bounce, "Hi Eve!"

I waved, unsure if he was able to read anything I could write on my phone yet.

"Can you teach me some words?" Declan asked, eating some bacon from the plate in front of him.

"In ASL?" Elisa asked, sitting down next to Antero.

Declan nodded and I shrugged, nodding along. He cheered, pumping his fists in the air. I laughed, eating the food on my plate quickly.

"Is this please?" Declan asked, rubbing his palm on his chest in a circle. I nodded, and cheered. "What's the sign for cookie?" I showed him how to do it, and he copied me with some difficulty. We continued like that for at least an hour, moving out into the living room eventually so I could keep an eye on Antero while he watched Mickey Mouse.

It was around 9 when Patrick stumbled out. He saw me and grinned, " _Good morning Eve!_ " His signing was a little slow.

" _Morning, Patrick._ " I grinned, and he smiled at me once more before going into the kitchen.

"What did you sign?" Declan asked, bouncing on the couch.

Patrick popped in and explained it to him before going into the dining room. I smiled in his general direction, still not believing that he had taken that entire course in one sitting.


	4. Saturday

After breakfast we went to the mall. Patrick had a concert tonight that we were all going to, and I had a doctor's appointment after lunch. I was just excited to get my stuff and put it in my room.

Patrick looked at me as we were going inside, " _You do not have a limit of spending. Get whatever you want._ " My eyes widened and I hugged him, frantically signing thank you. He laughed, talking with me as we walked further into the mall. " _Do you want me to announce you tonight at the concert? I was going to put you in the front row, maybe I can pull you on stage?_ "

I nodded, " _That would be nice_."

Patrick smiled, " _That's what we'll do then. Do you want to come with me to sound check?_ "

We began to walk into a Sears, Elisa leading us to the bedding stuff, " _Sure, but I would like to line up with everyone else_."

" _We'll make sure you're the first one in then,_ " Patrick smiled at me and looked at the different bedding sets.

I saw a really pretty yellow blanket that I could fold up on the end of my bed already. I didn't mind the all white color they put in there, I just wanted some accents. Maybe yellow and gray, since those are my favorite colors. I picked up a copy of the blanket and some matching throw pillows, turning to Patrick, " _I like the white that you guys put in, I just wanna add some yellow and gray accents._ " He nodded and I picked up some gray throw pillows. I read somewhere that the more pillows you have on your bed, the more depressed you are. I won't be too depressed if they're all in my favorite color though (hopefully).

We kept walking around and I noticed a body form, for sewing, that was in the same shade of gray as the pillows. I gasped, and Elisa saw what I was looking at.

"You like sewing?" Elsa asked.

" _I love sewing. I made my own stuff sometimes, like this shirt, out of stuff I got from the thrift store we went to_ ," I twirled around, showing off the blouse. The rest of my family clapped, and despite showing myself off, I blushed. We continued the shopping, eventually ending up at Hot Topic. I had never been in one, but I have heard of them before. I looked at Patrick, grinning before I sped in. In the front, they had all kinds of merch, but the back area had clothing. Rows and rows of clothing. I ended up buying over 100 items. The cashier's face when I brought it up was a look of sheer terror. I apologized profusely, but the cashier said they wouldn't mind if they could get a picture with Patrick. He, of course, obliged, and we went on our merry way back to the car to drop everything off.

" _Do you want to try some boba tea?_ " Patrick asked as we passed the stand. I shrugged and nodded, allowing Patrick to order for all of us. He allowed Declan to carry the four drinks, and the older 3 people had their hands full with 20 bags (the Hot Topic stuff condensed really well) and a small child. We had Declan walk us to the car, mostly so we could keep an eye on him. We eventually reached the car and started to put the bags in.

"They aren't going to all fit!" Patrick cried out, laughing. I blushed, shrugging and taking all the smaller bags. I went up to where I would be sitting with my brothers and started to strategically place them on the floor. Elisa and Patrick walked to the other side of the car and watched me put them in. I had one bag left over, which I just crawled in with and held on my lap.

"Go Eve!" Elisa said, high fiving me. I laughed, high fiving Declan and a sleepy Antero. I took the teas from Declan, giving him his own, and passed Patrick and Elisa theirs. I took a sip of mine, which tasted like watermelon. I felt something else, and realized it was the boba ball (after a little bit of panic). Patrick watched me carefully as I bit into it, my eyes widening at the juice exploding out. He held a thumbs up and a furrowed eyebrow. I gave him a thumbs up, and he instantly relaxed.

We got home and I helped unload all the bags, giving Declan a tiny one to hold. Luckily, it was a one story house, so I didn't have to worry too much about stairs. I walked with everyone to my room, and set all the stuff down. Patrick dug in a bag and pulled out a T-Mobile bag. My eyes widened. " _A phone_?" I grinned as Patrick nodded. Elisa took Declan and Antero out of the room, probably to make lunch.

" _I'm gonna help you set it up. You have until around 3, then we have to go to your doctor's appointment and straight to the venue,_ " Patrick signed. He sat down with me at the end of my bed. Patrick kept his word and at noon he left, giving me three hours to unpack. I pulled stuff out of bags quickly, moving with the speed of Quicksilver. I didn't even have music to motivate me. Around 2 I finished up and walked into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes.

Elisa gave me a knowing smile and slid me a sandwich. "It's a ham sandwich, you can add anything else you want." She pointed to the counter, where a bunch of condiments and types of sides sat. I put some celery and ranch on the plate and grabbed a bag of chips. I sat at the table and she sat next to me.

"Do you want to do a girl's day tomorrow? I was thinking we could go with Meagan, Joe's wife and daughter Marie and Ruby, and Brendon's wife Sarah. Sound good?" Elisa looked hesitant, but I nodded. She grinned at me, beginning to plan out our adventure tomorrow.


	5. Champion

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dfabb257509ebda30e39b4c08a82e859"Another hour later, Patrick led me to the car. He had my files from the orphanage in hand, and I had stuff to do before the concert (which was mostly just my phone, headphones and charger)./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e4efacfa668fa80417fd41b256fd5203"Patrick tapped my hand, "Just so you know, those headphones go up to 115 decibels, so you can listen to music. And they're sound proof, so we won't hear it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d399b0cb8292c9cc23e71a864717f87c"My eyes widened and I sat straighter in my seat, "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Thank you!/em" /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b144c453e063f902191efb190a4849ca"Patrick laughed, "You're welcome."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6b122dc6a38156021c2b77e438bad0a7"We pulled up to the doctor's office and we both stepped out. I took a deep breath and followed Patrick in. "This is the doctor I go to. I would trust her with anything health related," Patrick told me. I nodded, and as soon as we walked in a doctor perked her head up from the secretary's chair./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fc475f9188fadac4787e70a0aa1e1876""Hey Patrick, this must be Eve. I'm Doctor Vega. Come on back," She led us to the first examination room, and helped me sit down./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3394f543095b6db2f51a9072afc7d3bf""Thank you for seeing her," Patrick said, sitting down on one of the extra chairs. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c775d99d1625a8a1547a4ca78e547db1"Doctor Vega nodded, "Anything for my favorite patient. Is this just-" she turned away "-up or is there something else?" She came and started doing the basic stuff./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3333e90d734c17e951eaaaa3a8e21659""She has some significant hearing loss, I was wondering if it was possible for her to get hearing aids. I have her files here from the orphanage," Patrick handed Dr. Vega my files. She looked through them and nodded. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="145145ff187acfdc77e5404f4ad31232""So, she is eligible for a hearing aid. I'll get her fitted for one before you guys leave, but I need to finish checking for other stuff, you know?" She smiled at me and I nodded. She looked back over the file. "Wait! You can't hear me at all?" Dr. Vega asked, looking at me with wide eyes. I shook my head. "Whoa, that's so cool..." She continued to read as I blushed. Patrick laughed. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="757db3aee4e75e50af16c52a52059bf8""Alright, there isn't anything else here, so lemme just get the standard set and we can get your hearing aids ordered," She smiled and left. I looked at Patrick to see him on his phone. I swung my legs back and forth, looking at my lap./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="66c175973220e8b13186e27820553d96"I didn't even realize that Dr. Vega was back until I saw her feet standing next to me. I looked up to her, blushing. She laughed, holding the hearing aid up to my ear. I sat still as she put it on my ear. I felt it wrap around my ear and the headphone piece slide in. Dr. Vega came into my line of vision and gave me a thumbs up. I considered the fit, and once I decided I liked it I gave her a thumbs up. She smiled, and took it off. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2cb6f83cc9dae79a6034c497ecf65d3d""So, the fit should work for both ears. Luckily for you guys, these are working, they just need to be charged. They should take about 6 hours, since it's their first time being charged. We had someone else need these, but they called in yesterday and told me they don't need them anymore," She gave me the aids and showed me how to put them in, and then gave me the charger. "So, during the concert tonight, she can plug those in and afterwards she can use them. I hope you have fun tonight guys!" She walked us out, and I waved to her. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c906ed8bcbfbb9efc2084c0033865186""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Are you excited to hear again?/em" Patrick asked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7515d44579256b300b90872fbc59abeb"I thought it over. To be honest, I would probably only use them on special occasions. I didn't really mind not hearing, but I did want to listen to music. I shrugged. "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I might just use them for special occasions, like movies- wait I can watch movies without subtitles!/em" Patrick laughed and I did a little happy dance, getting into the car. Patrick got in and drove to a McDonald's, letting me get what I wanted. So, basically, 60 chicken nuggets and 5 orders of fries./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="61c03e98f9be5997364ae4d39bbfe940""Are you going to be able to eat all of that?" He asked. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="39f38be311d76e79b49c45f15b0a9f9a"I nodded, "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I am really hungry. Plus, I have had these once before, and I really, /emreally, em style="box-sizing: border-box;"liked them./em" He nodded. Before we got to the venue I had already eaten 40 of the chicken nuggets, choosing to save the fries for last. I grabbed my bags and followed Patrick inside./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b345d69fcb14c5b7e03bd57ed8fa3cd1"He led me down who knows how many hallways before we reached a door that said "Fall Out Boy Dressing Room". I followed Patrick again. Once inside I could see 3 other men, one of which I recognized to be Pete. I waved and sat on the couch, continuing to eat my food./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="32ee1345a3a391c9ecdbbb105a2cb2d7""That is a lot of food," Joe said, smiling, "I like her already,"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="10eb977a1a50ce5f5d863db1ebf7997a""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Thanks. I previously had 60 nuggets but I ate most of them on the way here,/em" I smiled, continuing to eat. Everyone laughed. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="64d4b672b75487434c70cc1b7c07cc59"Patrick knelt in front of me, "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"We're gonna do sound check. After, you'll be seated in the front row. During Immortals, come to the side stage. One of the security guards will wait for you there, okay?/em" I nodded. He smiled and left with the rest of the guys. I continued to play on my phone, making sure to plug my hearing aids in before completely tuning out. I connected the headphones, put them over my ears, turned the volume all the way up, and blasted Skillet. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a03071de81ea4066e1c91d9b6d570a6b"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Let's get the story straight/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"You were a poison/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"You flooded through my veins/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"You left me broken"/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="84e4cf8ae33ea1ba3d75443e63a2c36e"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"It's Not Me, It's You. Nah./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6da7370114a7ffc55f5c704500d62b22""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Things are changing/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"It seems strange and/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I need to figure this out/em"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7d594992f174be6569febd899a61b5f3"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Say Goodbye. Sad song! No!/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bd74fcc725c64b7000004b0d627c0d4f""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I've been down in the dirt, lost for so long/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"And pushed around, beaten down/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Got nothing left to lose, all hope is gone/embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Got buried deep underground/em"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c1b335305f1e574e97d83c23aca6f707"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Out of Hell, yes! /emI started dancing in my seat, closing my eyes and letting the music wash over me. It felt nice to hear things every once in a while. I wasn't isolated , per say, but I certainly felt isolated thanks to society. Every once in a while, I isolated myself, in order to fit into society. Ironic, wasn't it. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b84cff49639d18629a4a5f8a73d72217"I continued to listen to Skillet. Around 7, the band came in and ushered me out. Patrick led me to my seat and sat me down with a kiss on my forehead. I nodded to him as he checked to make sure I would be okay. He left, and slowly people started trickling in./p 


	6. Honorable Mention

A girl and a guy say on either side of me. I was a little worried, until they saw the merch I was wearing.

"Whoa! I love your shirt!" The girl said.

I blushed, on habit signing _thank you._

"Oh! _Are you deaf?_ " She switched to signing instantly.

I was surprised, but shook my head, " _No, hard of hearing. I can hear loud noises, but not people yelling or talking._ " I shrugged as she nodded.

" _My name is Ava, and this is my friend Mark. I personally took 3 years of ASL through my high school, but Mark currently does not know any. We're both Seniors,_ " Ava introduced.

" _My name is Eve. I took ASL online because of reasons I would rather not admit, but I am a Senior as well. Do you want me to switch with you or Mark?_ " I pointed, trying to make sure that I didn't get in their way.

" _You don't have to,_ " Ava answered.

" _I don't want to get in the way,_ " I signed, " _I promise I'll be fine, although I do have to go during part of the show. Health issues, you know?_ " Ava nodded, switching with me. Now, she was closer to where Patrick would be. " _Can I have your number? I would like to talk more after this,_ " I was hesitant.

" _Of course!_ " Ava said. She signed her phone number to me and smiled. I took the time to look at her. She had long, blonde hair, which contrasted my short brown hair. I had no idea what her eye color was, but mine were hazel. She had flawless skin, mine looked more mangled with scars. She was perfectly skinny, according to my last doctor I was somehow a little overweight. The lights began to dim and she did a little happy dance. I blushed, watching the screens.

Patrick walked on stage and there was some squealing. He didn't have a mic. He had a spot light. Words flashed on the screen, and to my amazement, he started to actually sign.

" _You may be wondering why I am not talking right now. My voice is not gone. Tonight is special. Yesterday, I adopted a daughter. She is hard of hearing,"_ Ava looked at me and I held my finger to my mouth. Her eyes widened as she looked back to Patrick, " _But I am waiting until I formally introduce her to you guys in order to talk. Pete, Joe and Andy will be following in my example. We will be talking like this until she can come on stage. But we will sing when the time calls. Thank you,_ " Patrick disappeared for another second.

Suddenly, the intro for Sugar, We're Goin Down started. My eyes widened as I watched Patrick and Pete run on, followed by Andy and Joe. I grinned, watching everyone dance around. I could hear the screams of everyone!

Why did they sound so scared?

I looked at Ava, " _Why are they screaming?_ "

" _They aren't screaming in fear! It's excitement! Don't worry about it,_ " I nodded and continued to watch Patrick.

Finally they started playing Immortals. I tapped Ava's shoulder, and she quickly let me slide by. I thanked her and quickly went to the side of the stage. I realized suddenly that I had forgotten my bag! I reached the security guard and pulled my phone out.

 _I forgot my bag at the seats, can you meet me after? I'll give you a location to meet up at._

 _ **Ava:**_ _Of course! I'll see you then?_

 _Yeah, thanks._ I attached a smiling emoji and tucked my phone in my pocket.

The security guard guided me to the stairs, allowing me to walk up them and hide behind the curtain as they wrapped up the song.

The words appeared on screen again, but this time Patrick didn't get a spotlight.

" _Now, since you guys have been waiting so patiently, I'm going to bring my daughter out. She will introduce herself to you guys,_ " He bowed slightly and walked towards me. I could see everyone clapping as he came up to me. Patrick took my hand and led me on stage. I could almost hear everyone.

" _Eve, I have people in the booth that are ready to translate. Go ahead,_ " Patrick signed to just me.

" _Hi guys, my name is Eve. I am 17 years old, and I turn 18 at Midnight on New Year's day. I was in the orphanage for my whole life because my parents did not want to deal with a child that would not be able to hear them,"_ I could see the words flash onto the screen as I spoke. " _I love listening to music, believe it or not, I just have to turn it up all the way,_ " I could see the crowd laugh. " _I know I will enjoy living with Patrick, Elisa, and the Fall Out Gang. Thank you for being so accepting,_ " I went to step off stage, but Patrick held onto my hand, keeping me there.

" _And now, I'm going to say something for Eve,_ " Patrick turned around so his back was to the audience. He took my hands and stood the microphone between us. I took a shuddering breath as he smiled. "Eve,"

He had gotten one word out and I was instantly enraptured. His voice was soft, and definitely didn't sound like his singing voice. He laughed, seeing my reaction.

"Eve, I promise, as your new father, that I will take care of you like you were my own, because now you are. I promise to care for you, and to help you whenever you need it, or whenever you don't think you need it. I can be your shoulder to cry on, your confidant, and your movie buddy. I promise to protect you, and to love on you, and jeez I am rambling," We laughed, and I wiped tears from my eyes. He smiled at me, wiping a couple more, "I will love you like my own Eve. Thank you for accepting me to be your dad."

I moved to the side and hugged him, crying in front of thousands of people. I wasn't scared though. I was crying tears of joy.

I couldn't stop signing _thank you._ "Eve, why don't you tell them what your doctor manages to find for you to day?"

I smiled, slowly bringing my finger up to my ear, " _Hearing aids!_ "

The crowd cheered, and I hugged dad one last time before following his direction off stage. He kissed my forehead and sent me off. Patrick leaned into my ear, "I love you Eve," I nodded and walked off. The same security guard walked me back to the room and the first thing I checked was how charged my hearing aids were, which was fully charged.


	7. I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)

I unplugged my hearing aids, putting the charger on the couch. I held them in my hand, wondering if I was going to be okay wearing them. I shrugged and plugged them in, turning them on. I jumped as soon as the hearing transmitted, I could hear the concert outside. There was so much noise going on, I could hear water running and the electricity running. My eyes widened and I was tempted to take them out, but I reminded myself _I have to get used to it at some point._ I looked around and saw a tennis ball sitting on the table. I picked it up and sat on the couch, then tossed it to the wall across from me.

 _Thump._ I smiled, catching it and throwing it again. _Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._ I was probably having too much fun with this but oh well. I pulled my phone out and caught the tennis ball once more. I immediately pulled up Na Na Na by My Chemical Romance. I had never been allowed to listen to it at the orphanage. As soon as the beat started I was dancing, but not before I texted Ava.

 _ **Me:**_ _Was that good?_

 _ **Ava:**_ _Dude that was amazing! Where do you want me to meet you after?_

 _ **Me:**_ _At the band's entrance in the back. I'll wait out there with my dad._

 _ **Ava:**_ _Alright! I'll see you then._

After that I tossed my phone down and started dancing again. I got through about 3 songs I had never heard before when the door clicked open.

I immediately stopped in my tracks. The Fall Out Boys were all laughing. I ran up to Patrick and hugged him. He smiled at me.

"Do you have your hearing aids in?" He asked. I nodded. "Alright, Eve, this is Joe, Andy and Pete."

"Hi," Joe said. His voice was tired, like he had just played a concert with all his heart (which he obviously did).

"Hi!" Andy's voice did _not_ match his personality. He looked like he could kill, but his voice was like it came from a teddy bear. A little bit high, but not like "13-year-old who had been kicked in the nuts" high (which I have heard). He had no shirt on, which surprised me because he had one when they went on but I didn't see it anywhere.

"Saved the best for last!" Pete said, coming up and hugging me. I laughed. His voice sounded rough, but not like he had been smoking for 10 years. I squeezed him a little bit, just excited to be hearing the guys laugh. Pete pulled away and I immediately ran to Patrick. He laughed, opening his arms up. I crashed into them, letting him hold me.

" _Thank you,_ " I signed when I pulled away.

"Eve, your phone is ringing, want me to answer? Someone named Ana?" Andy asked. I nodded quickly. He answered it, "Hello, Andy speaking for Eve here. You have her bag where she told you to meet here? We'll be out in a second. Thank you," The call was quick, and I led the guys out after we all grabbed our stuff that wasn't being transported home by workers later.

I pushed open the door and looked around for Ana, finally seeing her leaning against the wall by herself. I smiled and walked to her. She walked towards me and hugged me, handing me my bag.

" _Thanks, Ana!_ " I smiled at her.

"You're welco- Is that Fall Out Boy?" Ana whispered, eyes wide and hands shaking.

" _I did say Patrick was my dad, right?_ " I signed, taking her hand and leading her to the boys. They all smiled when they saw her. I introduced her to them, allowing them to wave independently. She squealed, covering her mouth.

"Nice to meet you Ana. Thank you for saving Eve's bag, sorry she couldn't go back out after I finished talking to her. I knew that after she was done on stage she would want to experiment with her hearing aids," Patrick explained. I couldn't stop reveling in the noises. I could hear cars that were on the highway a little ways off. People were talking in the parking lot. I didn't even hear Ana and the guys talking about me. I just looked around and listened to different things.

"Well, I need to be getting home, thank you for meeting me," Ana said.

I turned back around, " _Thank you for saving my bag! I'll talk to you later?_ " I smiled at her, hugging her.

"Of course! See you guys!" Ana walked off, and Patrick led me to the car. We waved goodnight to Pete, Joe and Andy as we climbed in.

"Was that good?" Patrick asked, driving out of the parking lot.

" _It was amazing! Thank you Patrick!_ " I signed, looking down at my phone. I was already texting Ana.

"Do you like her?" Patrick asked quietly, turning down the radio.

" _As a friend, yeah,_ " I signed. She was so nice and pretty...

"Okay."

We pulled into the driveway a little bit later. I got out and Declan was already running to me.

"Can you hear me now?" Declan asked, bouncing in front of me. I nodded, kneeling to his level. He laughed and hugged me, "Let's go play!"

"Actually, we need to head to bed," Elisa said, coming over and picking him up. I smiled at her and she hugged me.

"Come on guys, let's go to bed," Patrick ushered us in the door and closed it behind us. Antero waddled up to us, his grin huge. I smiled and picked him up, playing with him. I brought him up to his room, after hugging Patrick and Elisa good night, and laid him on his bed. He fell asleep within minutes. I walked into my room and set my bag on my desk, took my hearing aids out and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep within minutes. I even got a good night's rest then!


	8. Favorite Record

I woke up the next morning to silence, but with Declan on my bed with me. I nearly jumped three feet in the air. He giggled and tugged on my hands, pulling me out of bed and into the kitchen, where Elisa and Patrick were making breakfast for all of us.

" _Morning sunshine,_ " Patrick signed, setting a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me. I thanked him and dug in.

"We're going to figure school out for you!" Elisa said, sitting across from me.

" _Well, I'm still technically enrolled in virtual school, and I feel like it's got more advantages than public school. For one, I don't have to worry as much about communicating by talking, plus with online school, I can learn more topics,_ " I signed before digging in and looking at Elisa as she replied.

"That is true," She said, shrugging.

" _Plus I can stay home with Declan and Antero and watch them while you and Patrick are out,_ " I offered.

"This is also true," Patrick said. "I don't see why not."

"It's settled then," Elisa smiled, finishing up her pancakes. I smiled, digging into mine. Declan and Antero were talking/babbling to each other. They didn't each much. I was a little worried, but not life-or-death situation worried.

" _Do you want to go to the studio with me today?_ " Patrick looked to me.

I nodded, it seemed really cool for him to be a musician. Maybe I could help in writing a song!

"Get your stuff, we'll be out all day. Don't forget your hearing aids,"Patrick reminded me before I set off for my room. I grabbed one of the book bags I bought from Hot Topic and threw in a bunch of things like notebooks and books. I also gently placed the laptop Patrick got me while we were at the mall in, along with the chargers for it, my phone and my hearing aids. I got dressed in a pair of ripped jean shorts, a black top and just wrapped a flannel around the waist. I saw it online and thought it would be cute. I ran out to where Patrick was waiting with the keys. He kissed Elisa goodbye, and we left.

"So, what are you going to want to do for lunch today?" Patrick asked me this before we even left the driveway.

" _It's 7 in the morning, why are you talking about lunch?_ " I asked, laughing a little.

Patrick blushed, "I was just trying to give you some time to think. Maybe look around for a few restaurants near us?"

I nodded, looking on my phone. I saw that there was a Chick-Fil-A by us as we pulled into the studio. I showed Patrick as he was parking the car.

"Ah, yes. Chicken," He said, hopping out of the car. We laughed, walking inside. I tucked my phone in my pocket as we approached the front desk.

"Morning Mr. Stump, who is this?" I heard the secretary ask. I immediately blushed a deep shade of red.

"This is my daughter, Eve. Eve, this is the secretary Lois Paige. Do we have anything today?" Patrick asked, leaning against the desk.

"Just working on the new album. Do you have a name for it yet?" Lois asked, typing on her computer. She was a little older, so I doubted she would be one of those cliched secretaries who try to get into people's pants. Besides that, she had a lovely wedding ring on.

"Still working on it. I'll see you later Lois," Patrick took my hand and pulled me away. We walked down the hallway that was full of posters from DCD2's artists. "We like to work here because it's closer to us," Patrick explained, "Plus Pete owns the place so we can come in whenever we like, and technically he signed the band on as well, so it's like a double positive," I looked at the poster from Panic! at the Disco and sighed contently, silently wishing I could meet them one day. It was from their Pretty. Odd. album, but I knew the band has since broken up into a smaller band.

"C'mon Eve," Patrick pulled me into a room that looked a lot like a recording studio. Pete sat in one of the chairs at the sound board. He smiled tiredly at me, and passed us coffee's. I took mine gratefully, and sat in one of the extra chairs. Pete and Patrick began talking as Joe and Andy walked in.

"Hey Eve!" Andy said, sitting on a chair next to me. I waved, looking down to my phone. The four of them began talking to each other about the album.

"What are we going to name it?" Patrick asked, tapping a pencil on his chin.

I picked my head up, wheeling my chair so that I was next to him, " _What are the songs about?_ "

"Well, a couple of the songs are about obsessive love," Patrick answered, looking down at the paper. I saw Eros, Speak of the God, Chaos Theory and Parliament of Fools, all of which were crossed out. He continued on with song meanings, but I disregarded them as I thought.

" _What about MANIA? It's a type of obsessive love, and doesn't just apply to love, it could apply to just being a little crazy,_ " I signed, a little worried he wouldn't like it.

"MANIA? That's.. actually a really good idea," Patrick said, explaining what I said to the guys. They all nodded in agreement, and I smiled.

"Is MANIA the title?" Patrick asked, looking around the group. Everyone nodded, "Pete, why don't you ask our manager?" Patrick smirked.

Pete turned his chair one way, speaking normally, "Excuse me Mr. Wentz, would MANIA be an okay title for our album?"

He turned the chair the other way, lowering his voice, "Well, Mr. Wentz, I don't see why not!"

He faced the chair back to us, at this point we were laughing our butts off, "He said yes guys!"

I was laughing so hard I nearly fell off my chair. I held my stomach as Joe jokingly fell off his chair laughing. It took us a good 10 minutes to stop laughing.

" _That was good Pete,_ " I signed, grinning. Patrick translated for him.

Pete stood, taking a bow, "Why thank you, I'll be here all week."


	9. XO

After a few hours of working, Joe took me to get Chick-Fil-A for everyone. I had my phone on me in order to communicate with him.

"So, did you listen to our music before Patrick and Elisa adopted you?" Joe asked, turning the radio down.

I waved my hand in a so-so motion, something I knew he would understand.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking at me weirdly.

 _The orphanage would only let me listen to songs that were clean, as I had to blast it in order to hear it,_ I typed.

Joe smirked, pulling up his phone, "How about we blast some songs with curse words?"

I laughed, watching as he pulled up _This Ain't A Scene, It's an Arms Race._ My eyes widened, I had never heard this song before (for obvious reasons) even though it was one of their most popular songs. Joe turned the volume up all the way, and began playing guitar with his seat belt and drove with his knees. I reveled in the sound of their music (and Joe screaming the lyrics at the top of his lungs). It was quite entertaining.

Joe passed me bags of food as we drove away. I was quick to thank the worker though, and she smiled and waved. I got excited about what my Halloween costume the next year would be; Rapunzel, from the end of the movie. I do like to plan early, it just helps me calm down. I began to sign to Joe, oblivious to his confused face.

"Eve? You're signing and I don't understand a word you're saying," Joe mumbled, blushing.

My eyes widened, _Sorry!_ I began typing on my phone, adding a few things I realized I forgot when signing. Joe read it after we pulled back into the studio, nodding.

"You totally look like the end-of-movie Rapunzel, you should do it!" Joe said, getting out of the car. I grinned, following him inside the office. We said hi to Lois, and when we got to the studio area Pete practically jumped us for his food.

I sat down with my two chicken sandwiches and large fry and started eating.

"You like eating a lot, don't you?" Andy asked quietly, watching as he ate his fries.

I nodded, _I have a really high metabolism, I have to._ Patrick nodded, and started discussing my costume.

I don't know how but we ended up talking about how I needed to learn how to talk, since I never really learned and I could actually hear now. I agreed completely, I didn't want to have to rely on sign language anymore.

"I'll try and get lessons scheduled. Right now, let's rework Bishop's Knife Trick," Patrick said, turning around. I got a ding on my phone, and I looked down to see Ana had texted. I took my food and wheeled back to my corner, texting her,

 **Ana:** Hey! What's up?

 **Me:** Nothing much, just in the studio with the guys.

 **Ana:** Wanna play a game?

I hope this doesn't end up like Saw, because I do not want to be in a horror movie this early in my life. At least wait until I'm ready to go.

 **Me:** Sure?

She ended up suggesting a question game, not 20 questions, but something like it. Basically, it was a Q&A.

 **Me:** I hope you're not putting this on any website (insert winking and laughing emojis)

 **Ana:** Only if you'll let me (she also put a laughing emoji)

We talked and talked. I found out her favorite color is teal (mine is yellow), her least favorite movie is Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which I agreed to because of the ending), and a ton more. By the end, I felt like I had known her for my whole life. I was slowly beginning to realize that whenever I was texting her I got butterflies in my stomach, and my face flushed.

 _No... is it a crush? Is it just a best friend feeling?_ I had never really had a friend before... Maybe I need more time?

 **Me:** How do you know how you like someone?

 **Ana:** Well, you'll get butterflies, and you'll be able to imagine living with them for the rest of your life, and sometimes (if it's lust) then you can imagine having sex with them. Unless you're demisexual and just met them.

 **Me:** Demisexual?

 **Ana:** You don't really want to have sex with them until you form an emotional connection. It's the shortened version of "the middle of sexual and asexual"

I considered it for a second. I couldn't really see myself having sex with anyone right off the bat, no one-night stands. But I knew that I wasn't asexual either. Maybe I was demisexual.

 **Me:** Thanks Ana, I think I just discovered something.

 **Ana:** Just remember I will still be friends with you no matter what.

I grinned, blushing. I was quick to text her back, but I didn't realize Patrick was trying to get my attention. I looked up at him, still blushing, and Pete smirked.

"Who's the lucky guy?" He asked.

Patrick looked concerned, Joe and Pete looked like they were about to piss themselves laughing, and Andy had a calm look on his face. I looked to him as I began to sign.

" _It's actually a girl..._ " I could feel my face somehow get hotter as I judged their reactions. Patrick's eyes widened as he translated, and everyone else had roughly the same reaction. Pete and Joe immediately sobered up, and Andy shrugged like it was no big deal (bless that man).

"Do you just like girls?" Joe asked.

" _I don't know... I haven't really explored, and I'm so confused,_ " I signed quickly.

"Let us help you then," Pete said, standing up. He wheeled my chair back over to the table, this time between him and Patrick, and sat back in his chair. He pulled his phone out, looking up something.

"Have you ever had a crush on a guy?" Andy asked, resting his chin on folded hands.

I nodded.

"Do you have a crush on this girl?" Andy asked again.

I nodded, hesitantly this time.

"Well, that narrows it down by a ton. You could be Bisexual, Bicurious, Pansexual or Polysexual," Pete said, reading off a list. He handed it to me and let me read the list for myself.

 _Bisexual- When you are attracted to two or more genders. This term is generally used to describe being attracted to men and women, but can apply to being attracted to any two or more genders. Note that you do not have to be equally attracted to each gender. Pansexual- When you are attracted to all genders and/or do not concern gender when you are attracted towards someone. Bicurious- People who are open to experiment with genders that are not only their own, but do not know if they are open to forming any sort of relationship with multiple genders. Polysexual- When you are attracted to many genders_.

As I read, I felt that I related more to the bisexual definition. I showed it to Patrick, pointing to the definition, and he read it and nodded.

"If you're bi then you're bi. Still human, still my daughter," He grinned and kissed the top of my head. I smiled and hugged him, but then looked at the definition of Demisexual. Patrick and Pete looked with me, reading as I read.

 _Demisexual- When you only experience sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional bond first or a romantic bond._

Patrick nodded, "Still applies. Plus, I feel like that's a good bonus because I don't have to worry about you having anyone over for sex anytime soon," His voice was playful, and the other guys laughed as I hit his arm lightly.


	10. Uma Thurman

Patrick called Elisa and updated her on everything. She wasn't angry either, although she did have to explain what everything meant to Declan. He, of course, wasn't angry either. More curious. The boys also decided that all the families would go out for dinner for figuring out the album name and my sexuality. I texted Ana just as we were leaving that I was bisexual and demisexual.

 **Ana:** Good job figuring it out. I'm pansexual, and I've been waiting to tell you this but I kinda have a crush on you.

I squealed, causing Patrick to slam on the breaks.

"What is it? Are you okay Eve? You never make noi-!" I cut Patrick off by showing him my phone. He read the text and smiled, "Ask her out. That's the girl from last night, right?"

I nodded, texting Ana: Would you like to go on a date sometime?

She replied creepily quick: You're serious?

 **Me:** I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't.

"We can pick her up for dinner, if you want," Patrick offered.

I texted her quickly. She sent her address and we started towards her house.

" _Please don't be too over protective,_ " I pleaded, knowing full well that he wouldn't.

"Nah, it would be Pete you have to worry about. Why don't you text him that?" Patrick offered, pulling into Ana's neighborhood. I saw her and scooted over towards Patrick (his truck was a 3-seater). I opened my door and Ana climbed in as I was texting Pete.

 **Me:** I'm bringing my new girlfriend tonight, don't be stupid.

 **Uncle Pete:** Me? Stupid? Never!

I laughed, showing Patrick, "That's Pete for ya honey. Hi Ana," He stuck his hand out, "I'm Patrick, Eve's dad."

They shook hands, "Hey Mr. Patrick, I'm Ana." I forgot what her voice sounded like. It was light and airy, and elegant at the same time. It sounded like Jen Ledger's singing, perfect. I couldn't help but stare at her as she talked. The rest of the world seemed to fade away, and for a second I thought my hearing aid had died accidentally. Ana saw me looking at her and giggled, bringing me out of the trance she put me in. "You like what you see?" She flipped her platinum blonde hair.

" _More like I like what I see_ and _hear,_ " We both blushed, and Patrick "awwww!"ed from his seat as we pulled into the restaurant.

Patrick parked and we all got out, walking in. I saw it was Outback, again. I smiled, taking Ana's hand. A waitress led us to our table, where the rest of my family and the band were all sitting. They all cheered as I pulled Ana's chair out for her, then sat next to her. Patrick sat next to Elisa, and the other adults were seated by them. Poor Bronx was in between all four of the younger kids. He looked ready to murder someone. I smiled and waved at him. He immediately brightened up and waved, hoping out of his chair and coming to hug me. I smiled and he began to talk.

"Eve! I made a project in school today!" I tried my best to look interested (which I was), "It was about the planets, and they were spinning too!"

I nudged Ana, hoping she would translate for me, " _That's so cool!_ "

Ana got the clue, "She said that's so cool! I'm Ana by the way, Eve's new girlfriend."

"Ooh! How long?" Marie asked.

"About 15 minutes," Ana explained, laughing. Marie grinned and started talking to Ana, I searched around the table for someone else to talk to. Andy, poor thing, was sitting between Ana and Ruby. I tapped Ana's shoulder and asked if we could switch. She obliged, because it meant she could be closer to Marie. I smiled at Andy as the waitress got Patrick, Ana and I's drinks. Once she left, I struck up a conversation with him.

"So, you really like Ana huh?" He asked, leaning close to me so he could hear me over the kids.

I nodded, smiling and pulling my phone out, _I mean, it's like I've known her my whole life. We played a question game while we were at the studio today, so I know quite a few things about her now._

Andy read that and nodded, "I wish I could find someone as quickly as you did." His shoulders slumped a little, and he looked back to his menu.

 _I'm sure you'll find someone!_ I showed him.

"How?"

 _Dude, you're a drummer. Chicks_ dig _drummers._

Andy laughed, looking at me. "I guess you're right."

I smiled as our drinks came out. Bless their hearts, they have to cater to 14 people. I made a mental note to try and ask Patrick to tip big later. The waitress gave me my drink and I signed thank you, taking a sip as I turned back to Andy.

I was about to start talking to him again when Elisa called me, "Eve! We forgot about girls' day!"

My eyes widened, _We totally did!_ I face-palmed, blushing.

"It's okay! We can go tomorrow, and Ana can come with us!" Elisa suggested.

Ana looked up to Elisa, brows furrowed, "You're sure? I mean, we just met tod-."

And with that my hearing aids died for the day. I frowned and pulled them out, pulling the case out of my backpack. I tapped Patrick on the shoulder (around Ava's shoulders) and began signing, " _My hearing aids died, I put them in my bag._ "

Patrick nodded, " _Okay honey, I'll let everyone else know?_ "

I nodded, and I could see him tell the rest of the table. They all nodded, a couple of sad looks from a couple of people, the kids blatantly ignored Patrick (which I was more okay with than the sad looks). I shrugged, and Ana told me that she was coming with us tomorrow for girls' day. I smiled at her, signing again, " _Wanna tell the public about us?_ "


	11. GINASFS

Ana perked up, " _What would your dad say?_ "

I shrugged, motioning Ana to move out of the way so I could talk to him. Patrick turned to me and smiled, " _What's up?_ "

" _Would it be okay if I came out to the public?_ " I was slow, and my hands were shaking. My heart was beating a little fast, per usual, but Patrick nodded. " _Thanks!_ "

I pulled Instagram up on my phone and took a picture of Ana and I, and posted the following caption.

 **stumpyeve:** _Hey guys! Eve here with my girlfriend Ana. Yes, I do have a girlfriend. I figured out today that I am bisexual and demisexual, which means I like multiple genders but I can't really want someone sexually until I emotionally bond with them. Ana and I have bonded so much these past couple of days, and when I have my hearing aids in (they died just before we took this pic so I took them out) I listen to her voice and pretty much nothing else. We did meet recently, but I still love her with all my heart. Yes, this is me coming out. I hope you guys don't see me differently. I'm still the Voltron-loving book-worm music-blasting girl, I just have a few things that are different._

I showed it to Ana for approval. She nodded, smiling at me, and I posted it to Instagram and Twitter. I turned my phone off as the food arrived. I smiled at my steak and fries before digging in. I could see Ana laughing at me, biting into her own chicken. I smiled at her cheekily.

After dinner, Ana, Patrick and I climbed back into the truck so that we could take her home. Ana and I talked, and eventually she laid her head on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her head and I could feel her smile against my shoulder. I turned to Patrick and grinned. Patrick laughed, pulling into her driveway.

"Thanks for coming-" Patrick said.

I turned to Ana and hugged her. She smiled, blushing, "Thanks for having me, see you tomorrow babe." To my surprise, she kissed my cheek before getting out. Patrick stayed parked until she got inside. I brushed my hand across my cheek, eyes wide and heart thumping. Seriously, it needed to calm down before I had a heart attack.

I looked to Patrick, sliding over as he pulled out of the driveway, "She was nice. I approve of her!"

I laughed, " _Oh, thanks._ " I pulled out my phone, grinning until I saw the notifications on my post.

 **BleakBuggyHippo:** _She's a faggot and she's deaf? Wow, so much for good leadership..._

 **BeeboIsLife:** _Excuse you, but she is a wonderful person!_ (This one made me smile)

 **PhoenixPo:** _She looks ugly_

 **McSalt:** _Damn, she's just looking for attention isn't she?_

 **mauricethepiece:** _Jesus christ, fix your fucking face_

 **nellycox05:** _you suck and ur gay and ur not funny and ur gay_

 **foreignwarren:** _her being gay was the point. Are you trying to insult her? you're not really succeeding too well there._

Of course, there were nice comments too. But the mean ones out ruled the nice ones 5 to 1. I turned my phone off and Patrick looked at me weirdly.

"What's wrong honey?" He pulled into our driveway and parked the truck. He didn't get out though.

I turned my phone back on and gave it to him, letting him read it for himself. His eyes began to look fiery. It scared me a little, Patrick never got angry. He shoved the phone in my hands and got onto his phone and started typing. His fingers moved fast, and I could see his hands shaking. I gulped, unsure of what to do.

" _I'm gonna go inside, I need to plug my hearing aids in,_ " I signed, getting out of the car. He mumbled something, but I didn't pay attention as I ran into the house. I got inside and saw Elisa coming out of Declan's room, most likely putting him to bed. She saw the tears in my eyes and followed me to my room. I plugged my hearing aids in with shakey hands and collapsed in bed, sobbing.

I felt a tap on my thigh and looked to see Elisa sitting next to me on the bed, "What's wrong honey?" I showed her the comments, then wrote what Patrick was doing. She nodded and held her arms out. I took the hug, sobbing into her shoulder.

 **patrickstump-** Guys, I'm not going to say this again. Do not bring hate into my family. Yes, my daughter is a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Yes, my daughter is deaf. That doesn't make her any less human. If you have a problem with her, feel free to come to me. I may be nice most of the time, but if you mess with my family I will not be nice.

 **petewentz-** If you have a problem with my niece, kindly fuck off. We don't take hate here. **#rainbowisthenewblack**

 **brendonurie-** Don't hate on my friends or family. Eve is as much a human as the rest of us. **#rainbowisthenewblack #loveislove**

 **crankthatfrank-** don't be that person who hates on people for being themselves. I'm proud of you Eve! Congrats on your girlfriend! **#rainbowisthenewblack**

The next day _#rainbowisthenewblack_ was the number one hashtag. There were hundreds of articles of me coming out, the hate and the retaliation around the internet. I scrolled through my phone, seeing that all the hate comments on my posts had been deleted. Elisa had helped me with that.

Ava also texted me as soon as I woke up: You okay babe?

 **Me:** I am now. What about you?

 **Ava:** Well, I haven't seen the posts since we're not following each other on anything

I sent her my username when I saw my door hanger I set up wiggle. I knocked on the bed post twice, letting whoever know it was okay to come in. Elisa walked in, looking excited.

"Are you ready for girls' day?"


	12. Back To Earth

I grinned, grabbing my hearing aids and my phone. _Let me shower first, and then we can eat and leave._

"We're going to eat all meals out today. Go ahead and text Ana that we'll pick her up about half an hour after you get out of your shower, okay?" Elisa smiled at me. I nodded, going over to my closet.

I held up two shirts for Elisa. One had a couple of stick figures, one of which had fallen apart. The other stick figure pictured was saying "Pull yourself together!" I thought it was hilarious when I picked it up in Hot Topic. The other was a t-shirt from Fall Out Boy logo. She pulled the Fall Out Boy shirt out of my hand and searched through my closet. She produced a ripped pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, and olive colored jacket. She smiled at me and left. I looked at the outfit and shrugged, going in to the bathroom.

After 15 minutes I texted Ana that we would be on the way soon. I pulled the outfit on and smiled at how cute I looked. Elisa was really good with outfits. I put my hearing aids in and threw my charger and case into my book bag, along with anything else I needed. I skipped down the hall to the kitchen, where Elisa and Patrick waited patiently. Elisa grabbed the keys and kissed Patrick before allowing us to leave. I walked with her out to the van and got in the passenger seat.

Ana texted me as we were pulling out: Do you want to meet my parents before we go?

I showed the text to Elisa, "We've got time if you want to stop in really quick."

I nodded and texted Ana back, Sure!

Elisa and I pulled into her driveway and I hopped out. I walked up to the front door of the sad looking house and knocked. I could technically hear, because I had the hearing aids in, but that didn't make me any less awkward. I kept my eyes on the ground until I heard the door click. I looked up to see my beautiful girlfriend in the doorway. I smiled at her, kissing her cheek.

"Morning babe. Come on in, I just have to get my shoes on," Ana led me into her house, where I was greeted by an adorable Golden Retriever puppy. I knelt down to pet it, smiling as Ana brought her parents in.

"Oh! You've met Uno!" Ana said, kneeling next to me. I nodded. "These are my parents Nicole and Daniel. My dad is deaf by the way."

My eyes lit up as I stood up straight, " _Hi, my name is Eve. I've known ASL most of my life, and learned it online. I'm technically hard of hearing, but I do have hearing aids._ "

Mr. Daniel nodded, " _I'm Daniel, obviously, but I've known ASL for 8 years and I learned through a physical class. I'm deaf through combat._ "

" _Thank you for your service, sir._ " I smiled at him. His face lit up, _does no one tell him that?_

"I'm Nicole, pleased to meet you honey," She hugged me, and I signed a _you as well_.

"Well, we have to go," Ana said, taking my hand.

"You have everything you need?" Mrs. Nicole asked, hugging her.

"Yes momma," Ana mumbled, blushing. I smiled at her, kissing her cheek.

"Eve, you're welcome over anytime. You're family now!" Mrs. Nicole said.

I nodded to her, shifting a little on my feet, " _Thank you. We'll bring Ana home tonight safe._ "

"Have fun girls!" Mrs. Nicole said. Mr. Daniel waved as we walked out. I smiled at Ana as she shut the door.

" _Your parents seem nice,_ " I signed, getting into the car. Ana and I were going to sit in the back seat, with Ruby once we pick her and Marie up.

"I mean, they are, but not as nice as your parents," Ana retorted, grinning. "Good morning Mrs. Elisa."

"Morning Ana. You don't have to put the Mrs. on, it makes me sound old and stuffy," Elisa grinned back to Ana as she pulled out of the driveway.

We continued talking as we drove to the place we were having breakfast at. Of course, we picked the Troh-women up. They continued the conversation on as I looked out the window. Chicago was freezing cold, and snow covered the ground. I almost brought a pocket warmer with me, so I didn't feel like I was going to freeze to death. The car was hot enough anyway. I couldn't believe I had only been with Patrick and Elisa for four days. It felt like forever. I considered the notion of calling them Mom and Dad, finally. They did adopt me. I just never had parents before. I mean, ones that actually took care of me. The closest I got was the workers at the orphanage, who were never allowed to favor a child (even if they were disabled. A lot of children like me came through the orphanage, but their disabilities were easier to deal with than mine). Patrick and Elisa had paid more attention to me in the past four days than anyone in the orphanage in the past almost 18 years combined. _I think I'm comfortable enough to now._

" _Hey mom where are we going for breakfast?_ " I signed, hoping to freak her out a little.

Ana translated, and Elisa continued to pull into the restaurant, "IHOP," She parked the car and everyone got out. We were up on the sidewalk when it clicked, "Did you just call me mom?!"

I laughed and nodded, which caused her to squeal and hug me, "Oh my gosh I love you so much kid. Let's get inside?"

We walked inside the restaurant and Elisa couldn't stop smiling. Once we were in the booth Elisa took a selfie with everyone and posted it online. I couldn't stop smiling. I almost passed out from the cuteness as A) Ana kissed the side of my head and B) Ruby "awwww"ed adorably each time. _Today is going to be a good day._


	13. Beat It

After breakfast we went to the mall. Our first stop was inside of Hot Topic, because Ana had never been. The cashier waved at all of us, and I took Ana to the back.

"Baby, I can't afford this," Ana said.

" _That's why we're gonna buy them for you,_ " I signed, taking her hand after. " _Mom and I talked this morning on the way to your place, we figured we could,_ " I smiled at her as she looked around in awe.

"Thank you so much babe," Ana said, hugging me.

" _You're welcome. Get yourself some shirts,_ " I smiled at her as she started walking around the store. Megan came over to me and hugged me, since we hadn't really been able to at the restaurant.

"She looks happy," Megan commented.

" _Well, I told her that Mom and I were going to let her spend money from us, since she's kinda poor,_ " I signed, laughing as Ana showed me a Panic! shirt. She put it on her arm and continued shopping. I watched in adoration as she continued to look around. Ana looked so excited. By the end of it, she had 4 t-shirts, a jacket, a new bag, and a couple of other things. We walked out with at least 3 bags each. Ruby led us back to the car to put them in, and then back in to Build-A-Bear.

Ana looked around excitedly. I saw a lighter colored bear on the wall, and she saw a darker one. We excitedly ran over to the recording station and recorded each other saying I love you into little hearts with speakers that we put in our bears. Or, I tried to atleast. I got a little bit out. The lady helped us stuff them and helped us "wash" them before we walked over to the clothes. I got a pair of jeans and a t-shirt/jacket for mine and Ana got a Deadpool costume for hers. We brought them to the register and Mom came over and paid for them.

"What do you want to name yours Ana?" The worker asked, smiling at her.

"Deadpool!" Ana said, grinning.

The lady rung her up and gave her the bear in a box. Ana grinned at me and helped me choose my bear's name out (I went with the name Anthea). We soon walked out of the store, smiling wide. Our next stop was a nail salon. We got in there and immediately I could tell the workers knew who we were. Judging by their expressions, though, they didn't like us. I gulped and took a seat between Ana and Mom.

The worker came over and helped me up, "Come get your colors sweety. Your girlfriend can come too," She smiled sweetly at us. I smiled at her and walked over to the rack of nail polishes. Ana walked over too and talked to the worker as I looked for two colors. I didn't want much. I had the idea of a kind of French Tip thing, but with black as the base and white at the bottom with my index fingers/big toes to be white background and black tips. I got the colors and signed to Ana what I wanted so she could translate.

"That's a wonderful idea," The worker said, smiling as she took the polishes. Ana picked hers and walked back to the seats with us. The other women were already getting their fingers done when a lady came over and started talking to the both of us. Now that Ana had a worker with her we could get done faster. I tried my best to talk to the lady, but that was kind of hard because she was painting my nails. Ana talked though, and once again I was enraptured by her.

Eventually the lady beckoned me to the chair for the pedicure. I got settled in and the worker asked if I would like the massage. I nodded, and she slowly turned the speed up until I was comfortable with it. I felt my muscles unwind as the worker (who I finally figured out was named Jennifer) had a one way conversation with me. I could feel my eyes slowly closing as I sunk further into the seat. It wasn't until I heard my phone vibrating against my leg did I shake out of my sleepiness. I looked around, blushing. No one seemed to be laughing at me. I pulled my phone out, face still flushed, and checked my notifications.

 **Patrick:** I think that when you get home we should talk about the Twitter thing.

Basically, _We need to talk._

 **Me:** Sure, what about it?

 **Patrick:** How to deal with it from your perspective. You need to tell the public something before the news makes it sound different than it is.

I gulped. **Me:** Okay. Should I do it now?

 **Patrick:** If you have the time, yes.

I closed my messaging app and went onto Twitter, where I saw thousands of people were either posting #rainbowisthenewblack or #adamandevenotanaandeve. I felt heat rush to my cheeks, and I quickly went to make a new post.

 **stumpyeve:** Guys, I'm not going to say this again. I am as much a human as the people around me. I know a lot of you guys have seen either **#rainbowisthenewblack** or **#adamandevenotanaandeve** , and I will only agree with one of them. Yes the Bible did say Adam and Eve. But I am not that Eve. I am my own Eve. I am the Eve that is deaf and has a girlfriend. I am the Eve that supports the LGBTQ+ community. I will not tolerate the hate I get from this. My relationships are my own business. If you want to interfere with mine, why don't you go get your own?

Attached was a picture of Ana I took of her after she got Deadpool. She was holding the bear close to her chest and had her head resting on top of it. She looked adorable. I also made sure to share the post on all my other social medias.

 **Dad:** I'm proud of you kid.

 **Me:** Thanks dad

 **Dad:** Did I just see you called me dad?

 **Me:** (laughing emoji) yes

 **Dad:** You're getting pizza when you get home!


	14. Art of Keeping Up Disappearances

I did end up getting pizza when we got home.

Ana also got to spend the night, her parents were surprisingly fine with it, and my parents wanted us to sleep on the couches in case we got any ideas.

Currently Ana was laying across my lap as we ate pizza. Declan sat on the floor with us, eyes on the movie, and Mom and Dad were on the couch with their pizza. They already put Antero to bed, and we were all starting to get tired as well.

It was hard to believe that it had only been three days since they adopted me. So far I had been to a concert, got a girlfriend, got hearing aids and went to the mall multiple times. I was excited as to how the rest of my life as Eve Stump would be.

The next six days were entirely uneventful. But now it was Christmas Eve, and the entire Stump(h) Clan was staying in town. A lot of them were in hotel, but most of them were in our house. Specifically, Dad's Mom, Step-Dad, and older sister's family. It was a crowded house. I was currently stuck on the couch with Declan and various cousins. They would all be here until Christmas Evening. So, needless to say, I spent a lot of time out of the house. I didn't mind having a ton of family over, it was just that they were all energetic. I usually had my hearing aids in, but I wasn't quite used to hearing things yet so I got panicked easily from all of them.

Today was spent in the huge fig tree in our back yard. I found out the other day that there is a spot high in the branches that no one could see me. I laid against the branches, sitting on the cushion I brought out yesterday, journal in hand.

Grandma Patricia bought me a bullet journal and a ton of markers, so I had started to bullet journal. I was planning out my new year with various weekly, monthly, yearly and tracker spreads. Was I going too far? Possibly. Did I care? No.

My only New Year's Resolution was to get better with talking. I still had no clue what tones everyone used, and the only one I knew was actually bad was yelling. There had already been a ton between Grandma Patricia (Nana) and Grandpa David (Grandpa). That's why Grandpa David was staying in a hotel with Uncle Kevin and his family. But everyone was here right now. The kids were all screaming, and the adults were yelling. _So much for a happy Christmas_...

I texted Ana: Babe, I need some memes. STAT.

Ana was quick to oblige, sending me quite a few with my dad.

 **Me:** Why do you have so many of my dad's memes?

 **Ana:** I'm still a huge FOB fan babe (laughing emoji)

She continued to send me more as my heart began to grow heavy. There was something... off... about how I felt. I knew I was okay, but it felt like I wasn't sitting in the tree while it began to snow. It felt like I was watching a movie of my own life.

 _What is going on?_ I didn't want to tune back in. I couldn't hear anything, so my hearing aids must have died. My eyes were focused on one point, some dot in my journal. My thoughts began to drift.

 _What am I even doing here?_

And then they stopped completely. Despite the snow piling up on the ground, I didn't feel cold. Part of me was scared. And yet, I didn't freak out. The other part was utterly calm. It felt weird, but normal at the same time.

I didn't realize how much time had passed until Dad came out in a full winter outfit, trudging through a foot of snow.

"Eve? Eve what are you doing up there?" He asked, looking at me worriedly.

I shrugged, throwing my journal and markers into my bag and jumping down. It was when my bare feet hit the snow that I began to realize how cold I was. My body was shaking.

"C'mon honey, let's get you inside. Your mom has been worried all afternoon," Dad picked me up and carried me inside (with some difficulty, of course). I looked at my phone's time to see that I had been out there for _three_ hours. How was I not dead yet?

We got inside and the noise immediately stopped. My family saw my shaking body and immediately started running around, making noise and making my heart pound. Dad set me on the couch and I immediately took my hearing aids out. Dad cocked his head to the side, taking the aids as I passed them to him.

" _Too much noise, I'm freaking out a little,_ " I signed, hands shaking so violently that it almost translated to " _I'm driving a little._ " That, obviously, would have been wrong.

"Guys, back up, she-" Dad turned away, but immediately my family backed off. No longer did I have 5 children peering at me, tapping anywhere they could touch. No longer did I have grandparents who were holding my hands through 5 blankets. No longer did I have an aunt who was complaining to someone (most likely her boyfriend) on the phone. They all just.. left. It was a much needed relief. I curled further into the blankets and shut my eyes, actually getting some rest.

I woke up later to Mom checking my temperature. When she saw I was up she smiled, passing my aids to me.

Mom was trying to learn ASL in order to communicate with me, but since she had to watch Declan and Antero she couldn't learn as fast as Dad did. So we stuck to hearing aids and her signing words she knew while she talked.

"You've got a little bit of a fever, but that's okay. It shouldn't be too bad tomorrow. We're about to start eating if you want to join us," Mom's smile reached her eyes as she smoothed my hair away from my forehead. I nodded, and she helped me stand up. As soon as the blankets were off, I started to shiver again. Mom passed me a hoodie from the back of the couch, one I recognized as Dad's, and I pulled it over my head and shuffled to the table.


	15. Bonus Chapter: Article 1 Buzzfeed

**BUZZFEED ARTICLE**

 **Eve Stump: What We Know About Her**

 _What is it with Patrick Stump's new daughter?_

 **Written By:** Sena Hutchings

 **Written on:** December 21, 2017

 **On December 16th, 2017,** just a few days ago in fact, Patrick Stump announced on stage that he adopted a daughter in the most fabulous of ways. Since she is **deaf,** Patrick and the rest of the band did not speak a single word until Eve could come on stage and hear her new father for the first time. Eve gave a basic description of herself, with the aid of a translator.

" _Hi guys, my name is_ _ **Eve**_ _. I am_ _ **17 years old, and I turn 18 at Midnight on New Year's day**_ _. I was in the orphanage for my_ _ **whole life**_ _because my parents did not want to deal with a child that_ _ **would not be able to hear**_ _them._ _ **I love listening to music**_ _, believe it or not,_ _ **I just have to turn it up all the way.**_ _I know I will enjoy living with Patrick, Elisa, and the Fall Out Gang. Thank you for being so accepting,_ " She signed. The small speech was heart warming, and began to allow fans to see the new Stump family.

The next day she posted on her social media, coming out as **bisexual** and **demisexual** (definitions below). This caused some uproar from fans and haters alike, and she later had to go online and give a personal statement.

" _Guys, I'm not going to say this again. I am as much a human as the people around me. I know a lot of you guys have seen either_ _ **#rainbowisthenewblack**_ _or_ _ **#adamandevenotanaandeve**_ _, and I will only agree with one of them. Yes the Bible did say Adam and Eve. But I am not that Eve. I am my own Eve._ _ **I am the Eve that is deaf and has a girlfriend**_ _._ _ **I am the Eve that supports the LGBTQ+ community**_ _._ _ **I will not tolerate the hate I get from this**_ _. My relationships are my own business. If you want to interfere with mine, why don't you go get your own?_ "

Eve is a beautiful, bold girl who is not going to tolerate the hate around her. Will she be the icon of a generation, or just another false idol?

 _ **List of things we know about her:**_

-Eve Stump

-17 Years Old

-Her birthday is at midnight on New Year's

-She has a wonderful girlfriend named Ana

-Bisexual/Demisexual

-Loves Voltron

-Deaf/Hard of Hearing

-Ain't taking none of your shit


	16. Bang the Doldrums

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="20350fc1b217534938fffad04bc9ccd4"I sat down next to Dad, still slipping the hearing aids in my ears. It looked like we were eating spaghetti. I listened quietly as the rest of my family began to talk again. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0931210c1a0f05e733501eaa506eb084""Patrick, have you gotten her enrolled in school yet?" My step-grandmother (Grandma) asked. Why did she have to talk like I wasn't right here? I gripped the fork tighter as I continued to eat./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="297605e6c179cd3c0f8dad2c4d91a3e3""Yes, I enrolled her in a virtual school so that she could come with us on tour and so that she didn't have to deal with all the troubles of being deaf in public school," Dad explained calmly. I could tell he was angry though. No one really wanted his dad and wife there, Dad invited them over to be nice, and to avoid their passive aggressive comments. Not even Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan wanted them here. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e78a21c674130ebaa43afee4f79c5738""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Only a few more days,/em" I signed to Dad, knowing full well Grandpa and Grandma couldn't understand me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e1738c8b16fc7709a918de96e9c9f477"Dad nodded, continuing conversation with them. I could tell he didn't want to though./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9fc8a1ecdd4de6933a9ffabfe0883c10"I turned to Mom, pulling my phone out to talk to her. But apparently Grandma didn't like that./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a817e9de5456da8ef1d80eeca842cc2c""Why do you have to pull that damned phone out girl?" She sneered. I gulped, leaning away from her (even though she was on the opposite end of the table as me)./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0e260063d2b88de4c5667e27397e39f3""She has to use it in order to communicate for now," Dad seemed to be getting angrier. I could feel my heart rate speed up as he stabbed into his spaghetti. Mom could see that I was starting to freak out and took my hand. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3297cbb787422567f46b35b6cadb9583""She shouldn't have to. Why did you adopt this one Patrick? You could have gotten a perfectly normal girl," Grandpa grumbled. Everyone gasped, and Dad gripped his knife like he was going to throw it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="312fe48788d6ba62ff6a78a0ddbb2ec9""Get out," Dad snapped. His eyes were on his plate./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cef3b24c6bebb0c7af5f34af49be81b0""What?" Grandpa asked, like he had done nothing wrong. I clenched my jaw, starting to get pissed now./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bcb3e715dd87210924b4f91189df74e2""You heard me. Get. Out," Dad was looking at Grandpa now./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="293816ca959f9c304e4727c5626f3a96""Why, because we told you the truth about your daughter?" Grandma spat the word out like it was the n-word. She looked at me and sneered. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"That bitch-!/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9a8e008c2b0c386036a3eb1f59b61acb""Because Patrick told you to!" Elisa shouted, "His house, his rules."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a8e5a3993ac056573ff3ca9ec8a97a82""Fine. Don't expect gifts from us," Grandpa growled, getting up and leaving with Grandma./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="12844a9c05474d3f21e39456825c885a"The table was quiet for a second. Dad rubbed his hands down his face, groaning, "God I hated that."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="351bbaa296a76e98a512d22e9b8f627a""I know, but good news. I grabbed the gifts from their hotel room. They're currently in the back of my car," Uncle Kevin said, grinning. I cheered, and everyone laughed. The mood was further lightened by jokes and stories told by everyone at the table. I was quiet, obviously. It's kinda hard to be loud when you can't even talk. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bff3dab1450b7f696c4683883f4c7b00"Dad talked to me though, communicating my thoughts to the others as well. He kept me calm as the room's tension slowly died down. It felt relieving to finally have them gone. Although I felt bad that Dad had to tell them to leave like that. It was for the best though. Hopefully./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fa00325161849616267256e8f04d269d"That night we went and got all the other gifts out of the back of Uncle Kevin's car. Apparently everyone got two gifts on Christmas Eve in the Stump Household. One pair of PJ's, and a Christmas ornament. We were allowed to put them on our tree. Mine was a cute little piano and a set of Captain America PJ's. I quickly put them on after getting them. Declan got a matching set of Batman PJ's and a Batman ornament (he was going through a Batman phase). Antero got a cute little Paw Patrol ornament and Iron Man PJ's. The cousins, of course, got PJ's too and all the adults also got ornaments. Everyone was happy when Uncle Kevin's family left that night to retire to the hotel./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8630168ef3d06eba99d707ab646d3c54"As we all started to retire to sleeping areas, Dad hugged me one last time. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="887f54920b1ad9abdefe353e9f09c8ed""Go get some rest sweety," He said, smiling. I nodded, walking towards the lounge. That wasn't going to happen any time soon./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dd38257857372de25f0534043d29639c"I reached the doorway and suddenly I heard a loud em style="box-sizing: border-box;"BANG/em right in my ear. I collapsed to the ground, dizzy. My vision swam as Dad ran over. All I could hear was this screeching noise in my right ear. I could feel something running down the back of my head. Dad reached down and pulled the hearing aid out of my left ear, and shouted at someone I couldn't see. I winced as he touched my right ear, soon realizing something was very wrong./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="71ab06fa78e4c37815fd1ae5f29b8454""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Are you okay?/em" Dad signed. Mom ran over with a towel as I shook my head. The entire right side of my face hurt, excluding the part where it was completely numb. A towel was placed under my head, and I could see the kids out of the corner of my eye. One of my cousins was crying and Declan, being the sweet kid he is, was comforting her. My aunt and grandparents were trying their best to shield them from me but I guess that she saw what happened. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7227badb0cbe026108ffb8a32aa77639"I felt Dad's hand slip into mine as Mom pulled her phone out. I could vaguely feel a towel being pressed against my ear, but it just made the pain worse. I squeezed Dad's hand as Mom began talking into the phone. Dad, I'm assuming, pressed against my head again and I visibly flinched. He looked apologetic, but I knew he was trying to help./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="af0e8953bf0b66c013da62d25c890360"My parents kept their worried look until the ambulance came. Two workers came in with a first aid kit. They began to talk to my parents, checking every once in a while to make sure I hadn't passed out./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ef456133fa60a2f4be45cbc79d4d1d3b"What the heck happened?br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /p 


	17. Yule Shoot Your Eye Out

The ambulance ride was chaotic. Since I was bleeding from my head, I was bleeding a lot, which meant I had more of a chance of dying. Dad held my left hand, mouthing words to one of his songs. I think it was Lullabye. He was trying to get me to go to sleep without them having to use anesthesia. It didn't work. I was in too much pain as it was. The workers constantly prodding the site didn't help either. I could see them pull out the remains of my right hearing aid, all I could see of it was a bloody and charred mess. I didn't see them pull any of my ear away, so that was good.

We arrived at the hospital and they wheeled me into a room of my own. I still couldn't feel that general area though. I could feel a pinch in my arm, and my world slowly faded to black.

I woke up an hour later in a room of my own. Mom and Dad were in chairs next to me, watching with anticipation as I shifted.

" _How are you feeling?_ " Dad signed, looking at me like I was going to blow up at any second.

" _My face hurts,_ " I signed, pointing to the right side of my face, " _And I can't feel my right ear._ "

" _That was kind of expected,_ " Dad signed, moving to sit on the bed with me. Mom looked like she had been crying. Dad asked her to do something, probably update everyone, and then turned back to me.

" _What happened?_ " I was scared of what the answer would be. I gulped as Dad sighed.

" _Your hearing aid blew up, they're still trying to figure out how though. You're completely deaf in your right ear now though,_ " I could understand why he hesitated in telling me. I nodded, trying to process it. " _They also want to keep you over night. We'll be back in time for opening gifts tomorrow though._ "

I nodded. At least there was that.

" _The rest of the band will be by tomorrow for a big Christmas dinner too, and the family will be gone by then. Unless Nana and Pap decide they want to stay and help. But they will stay in the guest room."_

I nodded again. The doctor came in as Mom was telling Dad something. The doctor saw I was awake and smiled at me. She hung a clip board on the end of my bed and sat next to Dad.

"So, I heard your dad tell you everything that happened. We have a band-aid that's going to go over your ear until further notice. You'll be here overnight, and then come back in a month. Is that okay?" She asked, directing the question at both me and my parents.

We all nodded at the same time.

The doctor continues to drone on about what happened. They figured out that my hearing aids had been blocked by wax. But not ear wax. Candle wax. AKA, it had been sabotaged. I was now 100% deaf in my right ear, as Dad told me already, and it was pointless to even use a hearing aid in that ear. I had the option to restore hearing in that ear via surgery, but they would wait until later to ask me if I wanted it again.

That night was restless for me. My face still hurt like someone had stabbed it. Technically I did get stabbed a little, shards of the hearing aid had gotten into my shoulder. Believe me, it hurt like a bitch. They gave me a standard issue hearing air they had fit while I was sleeping. It turns out that my doctor had given me illegal hearing aids. She was, of course, being arrested.

I got to sleep, finally, at three in the morning. I woke up around 5 though. So I was running on basically no sleep when I got checked out. Dad wrapped his arm around me when we finished up, and gave me a pair of sunglasses and a hoodie to put on. I could see the paparazzi outside, so I quickly slipped them on as the car pulled up. The security guards helped us walk out to the car without too much trouble (unless you count constant flashes of cameras trouble). We reached the car and Dad got in the back with me. Mom got up front with Pete, and the paparazzi backed off as we drove away.

I leaned against Dad on the ride home. I couldn't feel parts of my face still, but maybe that was for the best. The pain killers were obviously helping with the fact that I wasn't currently screaming my head off. Dad kept his arm wrapped around me and I could feel his chest rumble slightly when he talked. A few minutes into the ride, Dad pushed me off gently so he could sign to me.

" _We're gonna post pone Christmas activities until tonight, so you can rest, ok?_ " Dad looked like he could cringe into oblivion. Was he scared that I was going to be upset? Granted, I was a little bit, but I could understand and totally advocated for it. Dad smiled in relief as Pete pulled into our driveway.

"Stay safe kid, okay?" Pete said to me as I was climbing out.

" _Will do,_ " I signed, gripping onto the door after. Dad climbed out and helped me walk into the house.

We walked in and I couldn't see anyone. Maybe it was because Mom and Dad got them to leave for a little bit? I shrugged the feeling off as Dad led me down the hallway. Mom went into the kitchen and I could smell something already being cooked. Smelled like Ramen. I haven't had that since I was 4, when they were still sold for 99 cents. Back when the orphanage could afford them.

Dad led me into my room- not the lounge, which was taped off. I guess the relatives ended up moving somewhere else? Maybe the hotel. We reached my bed and I laid down gently. The pillows and blankets wrapped around what parts of my body they could reach, seemingly wrapping me in a cocoon of sleepiness. Dad kissed my forehead and I could feel my eyes drifting shut.


	18. What's This?

I ended up waking up later that night, around 5 PM. Mom was at the end of my bed, checking on my remaining hearing aid. When she saw me stir she smiled at me, passing me the new hearing aid. This one was blue instead of the tan one Doctor Vega had gotten me. Mom gently helped me put it in, smiling at me.

"I was about to wake you up, we're about to have dinner, then open gifts and watch a movie. Does that sound good?" Mom helped me get out of bed, holding my hand as we walked to the dining room.

I nodded as we were walking in. Everyone was in the living room at the moment, except for Dad, who was at the stove. When he saw me he dropped the spatula and hugged me.

"God, I'm so sorry honey," Dad mumbled, his voice cracking. I could feel his shoulders start to shake as I wrapped my arms around him.

" _It's okay Dad. You didn't do this._ " I was firm, I didn't want him thinking it was his fault my hearing aids were sabotaged.

He nodded, and Mom resumed whatever he was making. Dad led me to the dining room table and sat me down next to his seat. Dad's hands were in front of him, wringing. He looked... nervous?

"So, I told Ana what happened, she'll be coming over tomorrow after everyone leaves. I told the band, and the family. Let's just say your Grandpa and Grandma on that side are never coming over again," Dad said, looking at me with darting eyes.

I nodded, " _I figured it was them. What do they have against me though_?"

Dad sighed, "They tried adopting a kid when I was younger, just before the divorce. They didn't get to."

" _So they're jealous_? _Seems rude to be mean to me though_ ," I signed, hesitating when I heard Declan's shouts for joy as he saw me.

"They were trying to get at me," Dad said, catching Declan before he could bounce into me, "What did we tell you to do Declan?"

"Be gentle," Declan said, looking at Dad and folding his hands in front of him. He looked up at Dad, waiting to be approved. His lips formed a little pout and his head tilted down. Dad nodded to Declan, and he slowly walked over to me. I pulled him into my lap and let him hug me. Declan pulled away after a second and took notice of my new hearing aid. His eyes lit up and he gasped, leaning forward again to look closely at it.

"Declan," Dad warned.

"I'm not touching it though!" Declan shouted indignantly, "Eve your hearing aid is very pretty. Make all the people go WOOO!" He threw his hands in the air and we all laughed. Declan hugged me once more before getting down and running back out into the living room.

" _What happened with my ear though_?" I asked.

"DINNER!" Mom called, bringing what I now realized was a turkey to the table. The family all rushed in and in seconds I had completely forgotten about my ear.

Dinner was amazing. We had a Christmas Turkey, a few pies, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and other various things that applied to different diets people in the family had. I was absolutely stuffed by the time everyone moved to the living room for gifts. I was stunned by the pile that was there. It was about 3 and a half feet tall and 5 feet wide. Various wrapping paper covered the gifts, and the adults situated themselves on couches as children sat on the ground.

"Eve, honey, would you mind passing out gifts please? I know you like sorting," Dad asked, sitting next to Mom. I nodded, kneeling in front of the pile and passing gifts out. Once everyone got a gift I pulled one out for myself. They all had matching wrappers, angels and crosses.

"Those gifts are all from Grandpa and Grandma, good choice on getting them out of the way Eve," Uncle Kevin said, laughing. All the adults laughed and I smiled. The kids started cheering as they saw what Grandpa and Grandma got them. I slowly opened the wrapping paper, thinking of the worst. I thought that they had sabotaged my hearing aid, after all.

What I saw was completely different. Inside was a book, called _The Book Thief_ by Markus Zusak. There was a sticky note on top too.

 _Eve,_

 _This is a book about a girl in Nazi Germany who had to be sent away to be fostered by other people. We hope you like it._

 _-Grandpa David and Grandma Lily_

I gulped, flipping through the book for a second. Nothing seemed wrong with it, other than the fact that there were some curse words in it. I passed the book to Dad so that he could start a pile of gifts I got so I could keep passing gifts out without worrying about tripping.

The next set of wrapping was flowers of all kinds. The boys made disgusted faces when they got their gifts, but Aunt Megan raised her hand to show they were from her. The kids cheered again, and I opened mine quickly. I got a bunch of drawing things from Aunt Megan. Pencils, pens, markers, paint, canvases. I made sure to thank her as I passed the stuff to Dad.

The following set was Star Wars. Uncle Kevin grinned proudly as I passed the gifts. My gift from him was Marvel stuff. Movies, clothes, merch. I only noticed a couple pieces of paper sticking out of the Deadpool DVD just before I passed it to Dad. I pulled them out and gasped, two tickets to see Deadpool 2 in the theater. I grinned and thanked Uncle Kevin a bunch as I passed Dad the stuff.

The second to last set was from Nana and Pap. I got a bunch of posters from them. I think Dad told them my favorite movies, TV shows and bands. I thanked them as I passed gifts from Mom and Dad around.

Their wrapping paper was red and green dots scattered around. Cute and simple. I made sure to carefully pull the wrapping off so I could maybe use it again later. I saw a shiny wrapping on the box, then saw what was on it. A laptop! And a sticky note as well.

 _Eve, we also got you a keyboard in order to play piano whenever you want. The headphones we got you should work with it._

I looked at Mom and Dad excitedly.

"Do you like it honey?" Mom asked, smiling at me like it was her first child's Christmas.

I nodded, struggling a little bit as I prepared to speak, "Thank you."

Dad's eyes widened and he grinned at me, getting up from his spot next to Mom to come hug me. "I love you Eve."

"I love you too, Dad."


	19. I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6c260aa79ded28fe09dded62204c06f2"The next morning I awoke to my beautiful girlfriend peeking her head into my room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0c0bfc2d55ea407bf13e642c56bc767d""Morning babe," Ana said, coming in. I didn't feel at all uncomfortable with her being in here while I was in PJs, she had spent the night before after all. Ana crawled in bed next to me and I wrapped my arms around her waist. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="86242abe85449da14b7b9679ad3bd755"I had figured out that the outside of my ear was just fine. The inside was what had been bleeding so much. I had a couple of scars from shrapnel, but that was okay, it made me look cool./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a73b70eced8f1bb5e3a1aa9b24c023e1"Ana wrapped one arm under my neck and the other began going through my hair. My eyes slowly shut and I soon found myself going back to sleep, with the beat of Ana's heart leading the way./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b6507f11150d20e854de9e4f6b655189"That was ruined, though, when Pete ran into the room banging two pots together. Ana, being the only one to actually hear anything, jumped out of the bed. I didn't hear anything, but I could feel her jump beside me. I bolted up, ready to fight whoever was in the room, only to see Pete laughing his ass off on the floor. I slowly got up out of bed, with a scowl on my face. I walked slowly over to Pete, and as soon as he saw my scowl he stopped laughing, eyes wide. I reached his side and stood there for a second before gently kicking his side and grinning. He burst out laughing again and Ana came up behind me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ae7c1a0f9ec31facd5d73737154e3f62""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"You have to get dressed babe,/em" She pointed out. I nodded, pushing the two out of my room so I could. I took a deep breath and searched through my closet for something cute to wear. I ended up settling on a pair of leggings and a sweater, because I'm so original (that was sarcasm in case you couldn't tell)./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d97616becf8d3cb30186bad7bc8e5765"I strutted out of my room grinning. Ana, I swear to God, gasped when she saw me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="138585d4f8ad9a6a65d80f590b880183""Holy shit I have the most beautiful girlfriend..." No one took notice of what she said but me, which means she must have mumbled it. I blushed, walking over and kissing her cheek before sitting on her lap. The adults were back on the couch again, children (and teenagers) were on the floor. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="034ce95e416e06835be05f33ed686423"There was another pile of gifts under the tree. I was sure I wasn't going to get anything from Mom and Dad today, as I had gotten stuff yesterday. The piles were sorted out by person though, which made me a little more happy as Ana and I were passed our piles./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="894d237fc6eb5da2e1ef8e62579b0640""Just dig in guys!" Someone shouted. I carefully tore into my first gift, a book from Pete and Megan. It was a stack of CDs, at least one from my favorite bands (and some I didn't recognize). From Joe and Marie I got a Fall Out Boy beanie and a Fall Out Boy jacket. Andy's gift was what surprised me the most./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4db17b4480ef356f2862d9d1d97031ec"In cased in a file folder was a letter. I read through it silently, nearly screaming when I got to the end./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="389f20a656db6e6f45c93f6113f027a8""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Congratulations, Mr. Hurley. Your adoption of Renay Brown has been approved. She shall move in with you on January 3, 2018./em"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="36d074ca9836c739dd13b8173cf3c959"Ana took the paper from my hand and read through it. "Oh my gosh, congrats Andy!" Ana passed the paper to Dad and snaked her arms around my waist. I looked to Andy and saw he was blushing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="493124c97af7cb6d546fdf5da20c8d15""They go by Sam, and they're gender fluid. We've met a couple of times already, and I have their room set up," Andy explained. His hands were wiping constantly on his pants. He was nervous as hell. Dad and the rest of the band were all cheering. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2e0cbdc77a8ab537bcbddb4155bb8830""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Could Ana and I help them get used to things here?/em" I asked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6a2c0655ab002b6082c6c8f37b70cf04"Andy nodded, "I was hoping you two could be friends with them, and I was also hoping you could come with me tomorrow to meet them?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="70e5062f299a435b3036fd182db2b242"I nodded, "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Yeah! I'd love to meet them!/em" Ana agreed with me, and everyone laughed. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cc36565c7465a5c8217b7c6df0ff5741"Finally, after another 3 more gifts from some of my other "family", I got to Ana's gift. It was a cute little box, and it had the same wrapping paper as Mom and Dad's yesterday. I opened it carefully, and inside I saw a beautiful ring. It had both a red and a blue jewel, with a heart shaped diamond in the middle. My mouth dropped open and I turned to Ana./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e20533137901d19fa78e2f8349813337""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Those are our birthstones, garnet for you and sapphire for me./em" Ana leaned up and kissed me softly, taking the ring and sliding it on my finger, "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"It's a promise ring./em"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ec73c8d6ae4a4a3f8bcb9f399808ba0b""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Thank you,/em" I was near tears as I hugged Ana, grinning./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eb4f7567345c905a12cc7cf58f6c055a""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"You're welcome,/em" Ana smiled at me, looking towards my parents. I looked over and saw Mom in tears and Dad holding a camera. I grinned and playfully flicked them off as Ana kissed me again. I saw a flash from under my eyelids as we kissed. After I was sure Dad finished taking pictures I pulled away and finally noticed Ana's eyes. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="24377eb6063cc2de91016aa380ab7180"I had never seen anything more beautiful. They were brown, with little flecks of green scattered in them. They looked almost like shining dirt, the way they sparkled. I found myself blushing as I slowly came back to reality to the chorus of Joe, Pete, Declan, Bronx and Saint all screaming "Ewwww!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5f13293c5339a81d92b4408f1ff7637f""You know that you two look at your wives like that," Andy pointed out, glaring playfully./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b953f4481ca22945caffe43a08d10756""Yes ma'am," Pete and Joe both said. Everyone laughed as Pete kissed Megan playfully./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0e5cd8150ee561b893a41040cc182799"Best. Christmas. Ever./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ef771f2064d7952db78429a247fc0c69"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"A/N/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="647dc612eb477a45d2923ab5147ccc21"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"So, that's the end of the book. I tried to keep it as sweet as possible, so I could build up for the next book./span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="23a3a6b1c193cbf78b29e4212679cbc5"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"That's right, ya girl Eve is getting a sequel! It will be out soon! In the meantime, read the sequel for She's With Me, "Haven't You Heard?"! It will be published starting next week!/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dd38a214c6c9619c385e66f79519054f"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"After May, I will begin a new schedule. I'm not telling you guys what it is yet, but be ready for it!/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4c142f4b3fe347522aa0d527ebf90e08"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Thank you guys so much for reading. Until next week!/span/p 


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